Interview with James Cummings, co-writer of Boiling Point

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INTERVIEW WITH JAMES CUMMINGS, CO-WRITER OF BOILING POINT

We caught up with Bracknell-local James Cummings, who tells us about his experience as co-writer of one of this years’ hottest British films, BOILING POINT. With a brilliant central performance by Stephen Graham and an outstanding supporting cast including Vinette Robinson, the film follows a chef and its team in the busiest night of the year, during which the team’s patience is constantly put to the test.

reading biscuit factory

Rich Text

You have co-written this script with Philip Barantini, who also directs. How did the idea for Boiling Point come about and how did it become a feature film?

So as well as being an actor, Phil worked in kitchens as a chef for 12 years before he moved into directing, and always felt like he wanted to tell a story in that world – it was very personal to him. When you look around at the restaurant movies that exist, there’s often something missing from the gritty reality of how tough it can be working in those spaces. So Boiling Point started off as an 18 minute short film that I wrote with Phil’s guidance back in 2018, and it was all about exploring some of the difficulties faced in that world – principally mental health issues and addiction. The feature film was a complete expansion of those ideas, and also allowed us to incorporate the front of house side of things too – which is the side of hospitality that I am familiar with!

Is the film based on any real-life drama from a previous restaurant job?

Yes – so everything you see in the film is stuff that we have either seen first hand or been told about second-hand – though admittedly, having the all drama you see on screen happen on the same night is where the fiction comes in! But the realism and relatability of it was so vital for us, and so drawing from reality meant we were constantly grounded in that way.

One of the major draws for the film is the single take that it’s shot in. Was this part of the concept for the film from the beginning?

Not initially! When we were talking about how to adapt the short film into the feature (also a one-shot), we actually joked about doing the entire film in one-shot because it would have been too gimmicky! So we explored other storylines for a while in a traditional filmmaking style, but it just wasn’t clicking with us. At a certain point, Phil suggested very seriously “Why don’t we actually do it in one-take? For real?” and the more we talked about it, the more it made sense for the story we wanted to tell, and the emotions we wanted the audience to feel. I think that’s a big reason why Boiling Point has proved itself beyond the one-shot conversation; we completely came to it from a story and character perspective first and saw the one-shot technique as the best way to tell this story.

How does the rehearsal process for a one-shot film work?

It’s quite like theatre really! Our script is semi-improvised and that needed to be workshopped with the cast. One of the benefits of writing the film like this is that everyone is prepared to improvise in-character when things don’t go to plan. But we did two weeks of rehearsal: five days with the front of house characters, and five days with the chefs. All the while, Matt Lewis (the cinematographer) and Phil would block out the camera movements alongside these scenes as we assembled them all together and prayed that it all flowed like a real film.

What did Stephen Graham bring to the role of Andy?

– Stephen Graham is on another level, I mean if you’ve seen the film you know what I’m talking about. He has such an incredible energy and working style, very collaborative, and also has a lot of insightful ideas himself. Stephen’s input in the script was there from the very start. And that performance – the multifaceted role of Andy: the charm, the anger, the deep inner turmoil, the camaraderie between him and the staff – he got it completely perfect.

What is your connection to Reading?

I grew up in Bracknell! So, many a weekend was spent in the Oracle (especially in the pre-regeneration days… we try to forget). I used to play Table Tennis here too at Kingfisher, and I think I was verifiably the worst player in the whole Reading league.

How does it feel to see your work on the big screen in Reading?

I feel very proud. I was in The Biscuit Factory a couple of weeks ago watching Licorice Pizza, and Boiling Point came up in the adverts! And I hadn’t even bribed the staff to put it there! That was very surreal and a surprise and the first time that had ever happened to me. But seeing the film up there in full, and hearing the reactions of the audience, it’s made my heart swell. Not just for me, but for independent cinema in general!

You can watch BOILING POINT on our screens until Thurs 3rd February – book your tickets here.

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